Results of a new polarimetric BRDF simulation of metallic surfaces

•The structures of the pBRDF components in the actual scenario have been revealed.•The characteristics of the components versus the incident angle have been shown.•The bimodal components out-of-plane have been captured for the first time.•The deviation of observation-plane from the symmetry plane can cause the doublet.

The polarimetric bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) can effectively model the polarimetric signatures of object surface, such as paints or metal. Meanwhile the simulation of this model can bring about more polarization information which may be beneficial to improve detection efficiency or target detection. In this paper, we reiterate the classical BRDF model and obtain the three-dimensional images of the polarimetric BRDF Mueller matrix components especially the off-diagonal elements in the actual scenario. Through the simulation, we achieve a preliminary understanding about the each components: the shapes of the components can be classified into two types, the components of the standard reflection Mueller matrix present obvious single apex, the others relating the depolarization present double peak. And some components have specific features about the incident angle. The relevant experiments have be designed and implemented to prove the correctness of the simulation. As well as the unimodal components, the bimodal components have been captured in the experiment for the first time. The preliminary interpretation about this bimodal structure has been given too.